For the second straight day, Teruaki Sato's home run power lifted Hanshin Tigers to a come-from-behind victory over the Yakult Swallows, as the defending Central League and Japan Series champion won 4-3 on Saturday.
Sato, whose 10th-inning home run clinched the Tigers' 7-6 win the previous day at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium, did the trick again, breaking a 2-2 seventh-inning tie with a two-run homer.
The Tigers fell behind 2-0 in the third, but came back to tie it in the fourth, starting with Koji Chikamoto's leadoff home run.
Twenty-year-old Tigers slugger Ukyo Maegawa singled to open the seventh and Sato followed with a drive into a stiff headwind that still reached the stands in right-center.
"I thought it would carry a lot further, but it just barely got out," said Sato, who worked to improve his swing in the United States over the winter using advanced training technology.
The Tigers, who struggled throughout the preseason exhibitions, won consecutive games for the first time in the young season to even their record at 4-4.
"I'd say we're getting better little by little," Sato said.
Among other games Saturday, the Chunichi Dragons' Hideaki Wakui worked 6-1/3 innings, recording his 160th career win in a 4-0 victory over the Hiroshima Carp.
The Pacific League's SoftBank Hawks beat the Rakuten Eagles 5-4 after neither team had a hit through six innings, while new Orix Buffaloes import Anderson Espinoza started and won his second straight game, 9-1 over the Lotte Marines.
